The Beginning After The End (Early Years Book 1) (21 page)

I see
Vincent’s face streaming tears as he’s silently looking at his daughter
meditating.  My mother pats my head silently, giving me a proud smile.

It wasn’t as
big of a deal for Ellie to become a mage since our whole family can use magic.
 The chances of her never awakening would have been slim to none even if I
didn’t do anything.  I was just speeding up the process.  I figure
the faster she learns magic, the faster she’ll be able to protect herself.

The two
girls lasted a couple of hours before the mana I exerted dispersed out of their
body. Surprisingly, Lilia actually lasted longer than Ellie. She definitely has
more willpower than my four-year-old sister.
 

My father
came a bit after from the Guild Hall and was excited and happy for the Helstea
family that they’re going to have their first mage in the family.

Picking up
Eleanor and rubbing his beard on her cheek, my father just cooed, “Aww, my
little baby is going to be strong like her older brother!  Promise me you
won’t be stronger than father okay?  Or he’ll be very sad.”

My mother
just laughs at this while my sister just giggles and pushes Father’s face away.
 “Papa! Your beard tickles! St~op hehe!”

We had a
great dinner party that night.  Vincent and Tabitha went all out on the
delicacies leaving my mouth watering and Sylv drooling right next to me.
 
We ended the night with everyone feeling
merry, Vincent going around offering drinks to even the maids and butlers.

The
following days consisted of condensing my mana core and my elemental skills
along with my Dragon’s will powers.  This was a mind-numbingly slow
process and I felt myself stagnating because of the lack of stimulation.

I spent a
few days out of the week sparring with Father but I can tell he’s afraid of
hurting me, always holding back.

Besides my
training, I spend a couple of
hours
everyday watching
over my sister and Lilia while they continue to try and form their cores.
 It was a strenuous process and I can see my sister being a bit more
impatient with the training but I try to help her through it by making games
out of it.

During this
time, I got to talk to my mother about her abilities as an Emitter.  I
asked how she was able to learn it and train it when there were so few Emitters
and she smiled at me mysteriously, saying how a woman needs to have a few secrets
of her own.

I guess I’ll
have to ask her again when she’s feeling less secretive.

Two weeks before my birthday and the start of my career as an
Adventurer, I’m startled by loud obnoxious knocks on the front door.
 Opening the door, the faces of the all too familiar group makes my lips
curl up.

Cover Artist: Beastace